multimodal presentation a1
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TRANSCRIPT
Multiliteracies in Education
Learning FocusThe development of critical literacy skills in
modern society challenges teachers to help shape and direct our learners to become multi skilled, well-balanced individuals.
Annotations
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. In B. Cope., & M. Kalantzis (eds.). Multiliteracies:
Literacy learning and the design of social futures, (pp. 9-37). London: Taylor & Francis Group According to Cope and Kalantzis, educations’ fundamental purpose
is to ensure that all students benefit from learning that allows them
to participate in public, community and economic life. This creates
learners with a wide range of skills. These learners use multiple
text types everyday, which assists in the creation of new literacies.
This action changes how people integrate with each other within
today’s society. The way literacy is taught has changed, and we no
longer merely test a student’s competence in literacy, but rather
desire to mould students into open-minded citizens, capable of
displaying their knowledge of literacy on a daily basis within
society.
Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Multiliteracies: new literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal
4(3), 164-195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044
This article emphasizes important ideas from the New London
Group’s ‘Multiliteracies pedagogy’. The four ‘knowledge
processes’ of experiencing, conceputalising, analyzing and
applying were perceived to give students insight and the
opportunity into real life situations both at school and outside
the school environment. This was influenced by social, cultural
and technological changes to teaching literacy. These changes
in society were seen by the London Group to be very important,
as this inevitably meant adjustments were necessary on how
literacy is taught in schools.
Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Developing Pedagogies for Multiliteracies. In M. Anstey, & G. Bull (eds.) Teaching and
learning multiliteracies: changing times changing literacies (pp. 56-81). Newark, DEL: International Reading Association Anstey and Bull believed that there are six phases of learning.
These include focusing, identifying, practicing, reviewing and
reporting. These six phases of learning give students the chance
to explore literacy. It was described as important for students to
involve themselves in classroom activities, which are seen to be of
paramount importance in the development of higher order
thinking skills. The Author’s believe that the learning environment
should be vibrant and supportive with ‘teacher talk’ encouraged.
This environment allows students to improve their literacy skills
with the assistance of the teacher who acts as a mentor.
Santoro, N. (2004). Using the four resources model across the curriculum. In A. Healy, & E. Honan (Eds.), Text next :
new resources for literacy learning (pp. 51-67). Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association
Santoro illustrates the four rescources model as an invaluable
resource for all teachers in classroom learning environments. It
allows the teacher to locate the key areas of learning in the area of
literacy. The expectations of what needs to be taught become
apparent, which enables the teacher to prepare successfully for
the lesson requirements. Literacy can be very complex, and there
are a variety multimodal texts covered including written, spoken,
auditory and visual methods. The use of the four resources model
helps the teacher assemble a lesson which enables the teaching
and development of these key multiliteracy skills.
Strong, G. (2007). Has txt kild the rtn wd? Retrieved 1 Augusts, 2013 from
https://usqdirect.usq.edu.au/usq/file/a1c3bc7d-1efd-7ee7-b074-45181d6627bf/1/Has_2007_1.pdf
Geoff Strong’s article ‘Has txt kild the rtn wd?’ depicts
society as it appears today. We live in a rapidly developing
generation filled with new technologies, and multiple
methods of communication. Strong states that our
generation is becoming ‘emotionally stunted’. We no longer
use speech as our most commonly used form of
communication, but we send a text message, which takes
away voice interaction. Literacy relationships are changing
with our evolution, and the trend is set to continue.
Levasseur, A. (2011). The Literacy of Gaming: What Kids Learn From Playing. Media Shift.
Retrieved August 1, 2013 from
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/08/the-literacy-of-gaming-what-kids-learn-from-playin
g215
Levasseur explains in his article that playing video games is a new form
of literacy. This new literacy is an interactive learning environment filled
with the opportunity for children to engage in meaningful challenges,
which are “congruent with the nature and trajectory of today’s world”.
This new literacy teaches children problem solving skills through trial
and error, in a gaming environment where the emotional stakes of losing
are much lower then in the ‘real world’. Levasseur explains that children
aren’t naturally great at gaming early on, but improve greatly over time
through discipline and practice. This trial and error learning in a non-
threatening environment allows children to learn through their actions,
without consequence when they make an error.
Frey, T. (2010). Next Generation Literacy. World Future Society. Retrieved August 1,
2013 from http://www.wfs.org/content/next-generation-literacy
Thomas Frey explains that literacy is no longer simply the
ability to read and write. Literacy is rapidly evolving, and our
ability to read and write on paper in its conventional form is
being replaced by countless digital forms of communication.
With this trend set to continue, Frey asks the question,
“What really is literacy?”. The list of literacy types is endless,
and each form of communication comes with a unique style
and format for conveying our thoughts. Learning the basic
forms of literacy will no longer be sufficient in the workplace
in the future.
Chattanooga Times Free Press. (2011). Literacy and the Future. Retrieved
August 1, 2013 from
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/sep/04/literacy-and-the-future/
The author of this article relates back to a book written by Dr Seuss
in 1978. Dr Seuss was quoted in the article saying “the more you
read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the
more places you will go”. This quote depicts the message of the
article intelligently. The integral and complex link between literacy,
and one’s capacity to lead a meaningful and productive life still has a
great purpose in today’s society. Those who are illiterate will find it
almost impossible to find fulfilling employment. We are increasingly
gauged by how well we interact within a knowledge driven world.
The benefits of acquiring knowledge in multiliteracies has never been
more important.
Open Technology. (2012). The ABC’s of Tech Education. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from
http://opentec.org/the-abcs-of-digital-education/
This article asks the question, “what does digital literacy really mean
today?”. In the author’s view, technological education should centre
around three concepts. These concepts include understanding, creation
and critique. In the understanding component, the author explains that
students must be capable of understanding the building blocks of
technology, as well as the larger systems in which technologies operate.
They must be able to use these skills to become competent in using all the
available technologies. The last component is the ability to critique the
communications they use. Teaching critique is as important as teaching
literature as it teaches the student to analyze the range of multiliteracies
they use on a daily basis. This aids the literacy learning process.
Chiose, S. (2013). Native literacy camps can change communities future. Retrieved August 1 from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/changing-native-futures-one-summer-camp-at-a-time/article13331334/ In Simona Chiose’s article, she writes about the importance and
need for ‘literacy camps’ in remote native communities in Canada.
In the community she visited, only 1 in 4 residents held a job. This
is a great example of the lack of literacy skills which can lead to a
life without purpose, which breeds uninformed choices and
mistakes. Some of these choices mentioned in the article refer to
substance abuse, something which easily be avoided from
obtaining the appropriate educational services. Reading and
writing skills are widely proven to improve lifestyle choices, and
employment prospects, which bridges the gap between the rich
and the poor.
Overview/SynthesisThe range of multiliteracies in modern society challenges teachers to help shape and direct our learners to become multi skilled, well-balanced individuals. The following synthesis summarises the ten annotations in relation to the importance of multi literacy learning environments, and the teaching of these multiple multiliteracies in schools and communities to create the opportunity to become well rounded, and abundantly skilled literacy learners.
In agreement with Cope and Kalantzis, I believe the concept of ‘design’ has become central to school reforms in the modern world. Teachers are now seen as the designers of the learning environment, rather then the boss of their students. The concept of design connects to the reality that learning and productivity are the results of the designs of complex systems of people, environments, technology, beliefs and texts (Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. 2000).
The New London Group’s ‘Multiliteracies Pedagogy’ explores literacy by the four knowledge process which demonstrates how literacy learning aids the design of fulfilled futures for students by giving them a vast literacy knowledge base. By gaining insights during lessons into real life scenarios influenced by the social, cultural and technological changes, students are able to design and create their own meanings and understandings through sense-making processes such as reading, listening, writing and speaking. Through the act of designing, a person’s world and personality can be transformed (Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. 2009).
Anstey and Bull investigated further into this concept with the six phases of learning allowing students to explore literacy in an environment where the teacher and student can design and communicate meanings of a lesson through ‘Teacher Talk’ (Anstey, M. & Bull, G. 2006). Santoro believed teachers could reduce the difficulty of designing and implementing great literacy learning environments by implementing the Four Resources Model. The complex range of multiliteracies in modern day society could be broken down by using this model to redirect focus to the teaching and development of key multi literacy skills in the classroom. The rapid changing of our literacy relationships means teachers are required to plan lessons which access a wide range of meaningful multiliteracies (Strong, G. 2007).
Dr Seuss once stated that “the more you read, the more you will know”. This statement still has great relevance today, although as Thomas Frey described, literacy is no longer simply the ability to read and write (Frey, T. 2010). The building blocks of literacy have been transformed by the arrival of a large number of digital technologies. These digital literacies have forced a change in how we view literacy learning (Open Technology. 2012). The literacy-learning environment will continue to evolve and develop, but the basic learning rules apply. Immersing yourself in literacy will improve your knowledge of the world around you, and doing so will give you endless opportunities to fulfil your purpose in life (Chiose, S. 2013)
References Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Defining Multiliteracies. In Teaching and learning multiliteracies: changing times, changing literacies (pp. 19-55). Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Chattanooga Times Free Press. (2011). Literacy and the Future. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/sep/04/literacy-and-the-future/
Chiose, S. (2013). Native literacy camps can change communities future. Retrieved August 1 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/changing-native-futures-one-summer-camp-at-a-time/article13331334/
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. In B. Cope., & M. Kalantzis (eds.). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures, (pp. 9-37). London: Taylor & Francis Group
Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2010). New media, new learning. In D. R. Cole & D. L. Pullen (eds.) Multiliteracies in motion: current theory and practice (pp 87-104). New York, NY: Routledge.
Frey, T. (2010). Next Generation Literacy. World Future Society. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.wfs.org/content/next-generation-literacy
Levasseur, A. (2011). The Literacy of Gaming: What Kids Learn From Playing. Media Shift. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/08/the-literacy-of-gaming-what-kids-learn-from-playing215
Open Technology. (2013). The ABC’s of Tech Education. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://opentec.org/the-abcs-of-digital-education/
Santoro, N. (2004). Using the four resources model across the curriculum. In A. Healy, & E. Honan (Eds.), Text next : new resources for literacy learning (pp. 51-67). Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association
Strong, G. (2007). Has txt kild the rtn wd? Retrieved 1 Augusts, 2013 from https://usqdirect.usq.edu.au/usq/file/a1c3bc7d-1efd-7ee7-b074-45181d6627bf/1/Has_2007_1.pdf